Microsoft Pushes Cloud & AI Even Harder

Bennie Parsons |Sunday, April 01, 2018

Tabs on my MacBook

The Windowsdevices team combines with Office software, with the goal of building laptops and tablets that appeal to users of Microsoft's applications, including its Word and Excel programs and newer tools like email and Skype.

Terry Myerson, who joined Microsoft when the company acquired his company Intersé in 1997, said he is filled with "gratitude for the experiences [he has] had and optimism for the future ahead, " in a recent post on his LinkedIn. After releasing products like HoloLens and Surface Book, as well as services like Studio, the company has seen a great turn around since its dark days of being outplayed by its competitors.

Much of the Windows software effort, called the Windows Platform Team, will move under cloud and enterprise software leader Scott Guthrie's group, along with several AI initiatives.

Windows 10 could experience a substantial growth in the coming years following the launch Microsoft's foldable Andromeda, the Windows Core OS and new innovative projects which are projected to be announced next year.

"With change comes transition, and one transition we have been planning for is for Terry Myerson to pursue his next chapter outside Microsoft", Nadella said in the note.

Microsoft on Thursday announced a big managerial shakeup including the departure of the head of its Windows group as the technology pushes deeper into a future in the cloud. Joe Belfiore will continue to lead the Windows group, while Panos Panay will take on the role of chief product officer for Devices.

Rajesh Jha has been with Microsoft since 1990, and has been heading the development and engineering teams for Office 365. Particularly noteworthy is the departure of 21-year Microsoft veteran and Windows chief Terry Myerson. The Enterprise Mobility and Management and New Experiences and Technology groups will continue to be run by Brad Anderson and Kudo Tsunoda, respectively.

But with the revamp, the Windows group will be smaller and its engineering efforts dispersed.

Jason Zander is being promoted to executive vice president, Azure, and will lead this team. Putting those teams, which face fierce competition from the likes of Amazon (amzn), Google (googl), and Apple (aapl), together with Azure could help them catch on as cloud services.

Nadella's explanation for what he put under Guthrie was laden with industry jargon, but the point is to allow Microsoft to offer its apps and services via the cloud to everything from mobile phones to corporate servers. Now with 15 million members, you continue to make our product and our team better each and every day.

The existing AI and Research Group, which was formed in 2016, will remain under the watch of Executive Vice President Harry Shum.